145
145
Oct 6, 2012
10/12
by
MSNBCW
tv
eye 145
favorite 0
quote 0
i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs and other things and i like pbs, i like big bird i actually like you to, but not borrowing money to pay china for supporting it. >> and the big broadcasting systems. what's the truth? could big bird be going bye-bye? joining us, from the christian monitor, good morning. >> good morning. >> so are big bird and pbs really in any danger here? >> well, i don't think big bird's had a week this good in a while. he's huge on twitter now. i think his twitter presence increased like 800,000%, and the thing about big bird and "sesame street" is they have so much outside funding. it's not like "sesame street" will disappear. pbs, the subsidy, it's a sizable chunk of their budget and would be a big blow. >>? how much? a perspective? how much the government chips in? >> it fluctuates year to year. 10% to 15%. in 2011, 12% funneled stlu came from the government subsidy. >> definite lay sizable clunk there. pbs has released a statement accusing governor romney of making pbs a political target and not understanding the value the american people place in public bro
i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs and other things and i like pbs, i like big bird i actually like you to, but not borrowing money to pay china for supporting it. >> and the big broadcasting systems. what's the truth? could big bird be going bye-bye? joining us, from the christian monitor, good morning. >> good morning. >> so are big bird and pbs really in any danger here? >> well, i don't think big bird's had a week this good in a while. he's huge on twitter now. i...
175
175
Oct 4, 2012
10/12
by
WMAR
tv
eye 175
favorite 0
quote 1
look, i love pbs, i love big bird, but big bird is going to go. he would end subsidies for pbs. got a laugh. blew up twitter. everybody was talking about it. i tweeted i think we need a fact check, does mitt romney really love big bird. seemed to get attention. people were interested in us going back and looking whether or not he really does, what is mitt romney's record on big bird? >> moving on to something a little more substantive than sesame street. not going to find a lot of people out there who think the president won last night. he really by all accounts. both side of the aisle, a lackluster kind of dry, flat, performance. is that what you are hearing as well? >> rob, the people that think the president won were the ones that were die hard in his corner or the people that are getting a paycheck from the campaign office in chicago. the president came out, a little flat, he came out on the defensive. never really able to gain his ground. mitt romney though, you have to give him credit. he was really prepared. went through the bullet point. how many times, did we hear him s
look, i love pbs, i love big bird, but big bird is going to go. he would end subsidies for pbs. got a laugh. blew up twitter. everybody was talking about it. i tweeted i think we need a fact check, does mitt romney really love big bird. seemed to get attention. people were interested in us going back and looking whether or not he really does, what is mitt romney's record on big bird? >> moving on to something a little more substantive than sesame street. not going to find a lot of people...
279
279
Oct 5, 2012
10/12
by
WBAL
tv
eye 279
favorite 0
quote 0
just the thought of it has pbs fans all fired up. nightly news begins now. . >>> good evening, coming off a lackluster debate performance, the president got some good news today, 32 days before the election, the nation's jobless rate fell to the lowest level of his term in office. economists will argue what it means, but here are today's numbers, the economy gained about 14,000 jobs in the last month, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.8%, that is where today's political debate in this country started out. we have it all covered here tonight. and we'll begin our coverage with nbc's andrea mitchell, good evening, andrea. >> reporter: good evening, brian, in a week that has been a roller coaster for both of the candidates, today's news gave a good bit of a jolt, but that set off a fire storm on what it really means. the news that the unemployment dipped below 8% since he took office came just in time for a president battered by his poor performance in the debate. >> today's news should give us some encouragement. it shouldn't be an exc
just the thought of it has pbs fans all fired up. nightly news begins now. . >>> good evening, coming off a lackluster debate performance, the president got some good news today, 32 days before the election, the nation's jobless rate fell to the lowest level of his term in office. economists will argue what it means, but here are today's numbers, the economy gained about 14,000 jobs in the last month, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.8%, that is where today's political debate in this...
133
133
Oct 3, 2012
10/12
by
CSPAN
tv
eye 133
favorite 0
quote 0
the moderator is jim lehrer of pbs. the debate is structured into a series of 15 minute questions, many focusing on the economy. the economy gets the first half of the debate, with questions 1, two, and 3. then they move on to the topic of health care, which has major economic impact, the role of government in our society, and the final segment will be on the governing cells of the candidates. jim lehrer can assign the final questions. there was a coin toss to decide who would take the first question. president obama has won that and will take the first question. we would like to involve you in the process and talk about this important debate, what you will be looking for from candidates, whether or not you have already made your decision. most particularly, if you had a chance to ask a question on this domestic policy debate, what would you most want to know from these two men? let's introduce you to our first guest. from inside the debate are -- the senior political reporter for yahoo news, who has been on the campaig
the moderator is jim lehrer of pbs. the debate is structured into a series of 15 minute questions, many focusing on the economy. the economy gets the first half of the debate, with questions 1, two, and 3. then they move on to the topic of health care, which has major economic impact, the role of government in our society, and the final segment will be on the governing cells of the candidates. jim lehrer can assign the final questions. there was a coin toss to decide who would take the first...
129
129
Oct 5, 2012
10/12
by
MSNBC
tv
eye 129
favorite 0
quote 0
i like pbs. i love big bird. i actually like you, too. i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for. >> okay. mitt romney has never made it a secret he really likes firing people. he ruffled feathers when me proposed to cut federal funding for pbs. it wasn't because moderator jim lehrer worked for pbs since 1973. romney messed with the most popular bird in america, and twitter responded. big bird peaked at 17,000 tweets per minute and the #savesesamestreet became the top trending topic. >> i don't understand. you know, everything was just fine. why does it have to be this way? give me one good reason. >> well, that's the problem, pbs doesn't receive any direct money from the government. the government funds the corporation for public broadcasting, a profit -- a private non-profit corporation that distributes the subsidy to local pbs stations. in 2012, cpb was given $444.1 million. let's see. what is that? that's .012% of the federal budget. last year, pbs received just 5% of cpb's total appropria
i like pbs. i love big bird. i actually like you, too. i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for. >> okay. mitt romney has never made it a secret he really likes firing people. he ruffled feathers when me proposed to cut federal funding for pbs. it wasn't because moderator jim lehrer worked for pbs since 1973. romney messed with the most popular bird in america, and twitter responded. big bird peaked at 17,000 tweets per minute and the...
198
198
tv
eye 198
favorite 0
quote 0
. >> jim, i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. stop other things. i like pbs, i love big bird, but i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> reporter: let the mockery begin. obama got bin laden. i'll get big bird. you tell that so and so romney anyone who bleeps with big bird bleeps with me. big bird even extended his middle finger at the candidate. >> and you're going to count on one that we all know and love. >> reporter: big bird started his own big bird parody account. reacted by crying and showed up in a deployment split screen. >> i like pbs. i like big bird. >> reporter: his reaction was a scream. >> not going to keep spending on money to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> aghh! >> reporter: his response included a message. >> f-u-m-i -- >> reporter: a message spilled out for myth. and this isn't the first time that mitt romney has stalked big bird. >> i like big bird and bert and ernie for my grandkids to like. >> reporter: o. >> he got rid of your jobs, now he wants to get rid of b
. >> jim, i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. stop other things. i like pbs, i love big bird, but i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> reporter: let the mockery begin. obama got bin laden. i'll get big bird. you tell that so and so romney anyone who bleeps with big bird bleeps with me. big bird even extended his middle finger at the candidate. >> and you're going to count on one that we all know and love. >>...
127
127
Oct 6, 2012
10/12
by
MSNBCW
tv
eye 127
favorite 0
quote 0
i like pbs. i love big bird. >> tonight lamar burton with the real story about pbs. >> the real story? >> the real story. good to have you with us tonight folks. thanks for watching. the unemployment numbers for september were released today. it is good news for the american recovery. somebody said obama didn't know anything about the economy. well, forget that for now. the national unemployment rate fell to, count it, 7.8%. 114,000 jobs were added to the payrolls. an additional 86,000 were added to revisions for july and august. the labor force grew, my friends, by 418,000, which means the drop in unemployment is not due to people giving up on looking for work, which is a great republican talking point. president obama broke the news to supporters during a rally in virginia today. >> this morning we found out that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since i took office. more americans entered the work force, more people are getting jobs. >> the president made clear the economy i
i like pbs. i love big bird. >> tonight lamar burton with the real story about pbs. >> the real story? >> the real story. good to have you with us tonight folks. thanks for watching. the unemployment numbers for september were released today. it is good news for the american recovery. somebody said obama didn't know anything about the economy. well, forget that for now. the national unemployment rate fell to, count it, 7.8%. 114,000 jobs were added to the payrolls. an...
999
999
tv
eye 999
favorite 0
quote 0
i like pbs, i love big bird, i actually like you too. >> reporter: one of the most surprising parts of the president's performance was what he did not say. no mention of romney's infamous 47% remark, no talk of bain capital, nothing about romney's own taxes. he did play the "romney is a hypocrite" card when it comes to health care. >> the irony is that we've seen this model work really well. in massachusetts. because governor romney did a good thing, working with democrats in the state to set up what is essentially the identical model and, as a consequence, people are covered there. it hasn't destroyed job. >> reporter: romney, who ran from his massachusetts health care plan during the gop primaries, now used it to tack to the middle for the general election. >> i like the way we did it in massachusetts. i like the fact that in my state, we had republicans and democrats come together and work together. what you did, instead, was to push through a plan without a single republican vote. >> reporter: and romney's countless hours of rehearsa
i like pbs, i love big bird, i actually like you too. >> reporter: one of the most surprising parts of the president's performance was what he did not say. no mention of romney's infamous 47% remark, no talk of bain capital, nothing about romney's own taxes. he did play the "romney is a hypocrite" card when it comes to health care. >> the irony is that we've seen this model work really well. in massachusetts. because governor romney did a good thing, working with democrats...
192
192
Oct 6, 2012
10/12
by
CNNW
tv
eye 192
favorite 0
quote 0
your documentary, you made with your wife, premiered to big ratings on pbs on monday night. how do you feel about the fact mitt romney if he gets into power will get rid of you? >> i just took a call from big bird before coming on here. we're getting together to form a little alliance. >> does he have a point, mitt romney? >> not in my -- obviously i'm a little conflicted here because my show was just on pbs but i do think that it is important, there's a real public good, that in the same way you want to have the government provide a public part because it serves the community, and providing some kind of similar public good on the air waves, whether it's bbc in britain, cbc in canada or pbs, for example, in this country, that there is a real benefit to that. and i wouldn't want to see either half the sky lose that platform or big bird. >> i've got to say, big bird, i think there will be room for big bird on this show if it comes to it. don't you worry. >>> when we come back, battleground america. political all-star on the economy, next debate and count down to election day.
your documentary, you made with your wife, premiered to big ratings on pbs on monday night. how do you feel about the fact mitt romney if he gets into power will get rid of you? >> i just took a call from big bird before coming on here. we're getting together to form a little alliance. >> does he have a point, mitt romney? >> not in my -- obviously i'm a little conflicted here because my show was just on pbs but i do think that it is important, there's a real public good, that...
294
294
Oct 1, 2012
10/12
by
KQED
tv
eye 294
favorite 0
quote 0
. >> welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. over the past week, peopling at the u.n. publicly weighed in the debate about what to do about the syrian conflict. today it was syria's turn to respond. president assad was unsurprisingly absent from the podium. instead, the talking was left to the country's foreign minister. walid muallem accused those spork terrorism in his country and prostriding arms to his army. he said calling president assad to step down would be serious to the affairs. he met with the secretary general to show compassion to their own people. but just how far is all the rhetoric got us? i'm joined here in the studio by steve from the u.s. institute of peace. steve, thank you very much indeed for coming in. listening to muallem's speech, what sort of insight does it give us into the way the syrian regime is thinking right now? >> well, the foreign minister repeated almost verbatim what they called this uprising from the very beginning. they depicted it as driven by foreign elements, as a conspiracy against the
. >> welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. over the past week, peopling at the u.n. publicly weighed in the debate about what to do about the syrian conflict. today it was syria's turn to respond. president assad was unsurprisingly absent from the podium. instead, the talking was left to the country's foreign minister. walid muallem accused those spork terrorism in his country and prostriding arms to his army. he said calling president assad to step down would be...
136
136
Oct 4, 2012
10/12
by
WUSA
tv
eye 136
favorite 0
quote 0
stop this to pbs. i like pbs, big bird and you too, but i'm not going to keep spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> reporter: the two men will square off again october 16. bigad shaban, cbs news, denver. >>> both men hit the campaign trail today and the president will hold a rally in denver and wisconsin. mitt romney will be in virginia campaigning with his running mate. >>> last night we teamed up with our counterparts at our sister newspaper "u.s.a. today" for a fact check session. >> every statement the candidates made was immediately dissected. derek mcginty has more with the "u.s.a. today"'s political editor. >> reporter: there was a lot to talk about, a lot of facts, especially the $5 trillion in tax cuts. president owe bottom ma -- president obama says that's what romney wants to do romney says not me. >> his central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut on top of the extension of the bush tax cuts. that's another trillion dollars and $2 trillion in additi
stop this to pbs. i like pbs, big bird and you too, but i'm not going to keep spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> reporter: the two men will square off again october 16. bigad shaban, cbs news, denver. >>> both men hit the campaign trail today and the president will hold a rally in denver and wisconsin. mitt romney will be in virginia campaigning with his running mate. >>> last night we teamed up with our counterparts at our sister...
232
232
Oct 4, 2012
10/12
by
WTTG
tv
eye 232
favorite 0
quote 0
sorry, jim, i'm going to stop the subsidize to pbs. i love pbs, i love big bird, i actually like you too but i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for. >> were you surprised that he went there with jim lehrer hosting the thing? >> i was very surprised. i would say that moment is probably the closest we got to one of romney's awkward, you know, mitt-isms like $10,000 bet or something. it was probably a low moment. it's a little awkward between him and jim lehrer, but the sper action on obama dp the interaction on obamacare was somewhat amusing to hear them talk about that phrase. >> i heard some people say, well, that's what he plans to do and he was willing to say it right there and to stand up to what he stands for. want to go and look at an exchange between the president and jim lehrer very quickly. let's take a look at this. >> now, the last point i'd make before -- >> two minutes is up, sir. >> i think i had had five seconds before you interrupted me. [ laughter ] >> there's that smile.
sorry, jim, i'm going to stop the subsidize to pbs. i love pbs, i love big bird, i actually like you too but i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for. >> were you surprised that he went there with jim lehrer hosting the thing? >> i was very surprised. i would say that moment is probably the closest we got to one of romney's awkward, you know, mitt-isms like $10,000 bet or something. it was probably a low moment. it's a little awkward...
204
204
tv
eye 204
favorite 0
quote 0
i'm going to stop other things -- i like pbs. i like big bird. >> reporter: big bird stayed way up past his bedtime to appear on "saturday night live." >> do you have any political statement you would like to make? >> no, i don't want to ruffle any feathers. >> reporter: first up here in los angeles, president obama will attend a small fundraiser with former president bill clinton and then he will attend a production at the theater tonight. vice president joe biden is getting ready for thursday night, and it is somewhat in damage control mode. lester? >> we want to turn now to our political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd. chuck, the debate, the positive numbers we noted potential game changers for both candidates last week, how do you expect they'll try to build off this week? >> they're trying to go on the air using the debate in tv advertisements to try to sort of blunt some of the debate momentum that romney got. but i also know that behind the scenes, there is a little bit of the confronting of the pr
i'm going to stop other things -- i like pbs. i like big bird. >> reporter: big bird stayed way up past his bedtime to appear on "saturday night live." >> do you have any political statement you would like to make? >> no, i don't want to ruffle any feathers. >> reporter: first up here in los angeles, president obama will attend a small fundraiser with former president bill clinton and then he will attend a production at the theater tonight. vice president joe...
128
128
tv
eye 128
favorite 0
quote 0
. >> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i like pbs, big bird. i actually like you, too, but i'm not going to keep spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> cnn political analyst and editorial director of the national journal. hi, ron. >> good morning, carol. >> i know it's not the most important issue of the night. plenty of people actually think lehrer helped mitt romney by allowing him so much time to answer questions. fair? >> i don't know. he has been an important force in presidential debates. last night was not a good night for him. the new format has a lot of strength, allows you to drill down on a subject, providing sustained focus on one area at a time. and he simply did not take advantage of it. he didn't have meaningful follow-ups. he didn't challenge them. he really didn't kind of force them to move beyond their kind of comfort zone and their talking points. i think it was a tremendous missed opportunity. i bet the other moderators will learn from it and being more aggressive in using this tool that the ne
. >> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i like pbs, big bird. i actually like you, too, but i'm not going to keep spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> cnn political analyst and editorial director of the national journal. hi, ron. >> good morning, carol. >> i know it's not the most important issue of the night. plenty of people actually think lehrer helped mitt romney by allowing him so much time to answer questions. fair? >> i...
915
915
tv
eye 915
favorite 0
quote 0
;pb>ñ>ñlíç?oú@oñrgpzuo<ñpuú7@ yeúñpko> music: swells we're paying off layaway for one winner.
;pb>ñ>ñlíç?oú@oñrgpzuo music: swells we're paying off layaway for one winner.
174
174
Oct 6, 2012
10/12
by
CNNW
tv
eye 174
favorite 0
quote 0
going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i actually like big bird. i like you, too. but i'm not going to continue borrowing money without a way to pay for it. >> somebody it finally getting tough on big bird. elmo, you better make a run for it! governor romney is going to let wall street run wild again, but he's going to bring the hammer down on sesame street. >> first of all, full disclosure, i know big bird. i'm sorry to be a name dropper, but it's true. it's not like i go to dinner with him, i haven't been to his nest for drinks or anything, but i have been to his workplace. >> i'm here with two legendary grouch newscasters, dan rather not and cranky about the letter g. say hello, dan rather not. >> i'd rather not. >> some are saying it's a war on big bird, that mitt i don't mean knee -- mitt romney wants to kill big bird, but at the end of the day, i'm not sure it's mitt romney we have to worry about with big bird's safety. >> would you kill big bird? >> as a matter of fact, i've voted to kill big bird in the past. i hav
going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i actually like big bird. i like you, too. but i'm not going to continue borrowing money without a way to pay for it. >> somebody it finally getting tough on big bird. elmo, you better make a run for it! governor romney is going to let wall street run wild again, but he's going to bring the hammer down on sesame street. >> first of all, full disclosure, i know big bird. i'm sorry to be a name dropper, but it's true. it's not like i go to dinner with...
253
253
Oct 2, 2012
10/12
by
WMPT
tv
eye 253
favorite 0
quote 0
and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the national debate over voter identification laws took a new turn in pennsylvania today. a state judge ruled that officials must wait until 2013 to begin enforcing a new law. ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: the decision means pennsylvania voters will not have to present photo identification on election day in november. in his ruling today, commonwealth judge robert simpson noted the election is just five weeks away. he wrote, "i question whether sufficient time now remains to attain the goal of liberal access to acceptable photo identification." as a result, he said, "i'm not convinced in my predictive judgment that there will be no voter dissen france chietment. opponents of the law including stephanie singer praised the decision. >> we can disagree about whether there should be any kind of photo i.d. law for voting. we can disagree and i'm in the next several months maybe years we will disagree. but there's one thing we can't disagree on. something we h
and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the national debate over voter identification laws took a new turn in pennsylvania today. a state judge ruled that officials must wait until 2013 to begin enforcing a new law. ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: the decision means pennsylvania voters will not have to present photo identification on election day in november. in his ruling today, commonwealth judge robert simpson noted the...
170
170
Oct 6, 2012
10/12
by
MSNBCW
tv
eye 170
favorite 0
quote 0
how did the former gop candidates feel about the mitt romney pledge to stop funding for pbs if elected president? first, rick santorum last night on cnn. >> would you kill big bird? >> well, as a matter of fact, i voted to kill big bird in the past. it doesn't mean i don't like big bird. you can kill things and still like them. maybe to eat them, i don't know. >> you can kill things but still like them? very interesting. >>> on to newt gingrich who went to one zoo after another during his presidential campaign. newt was on cnn last night with former michigan governor jennifer granholm, an active obama supporter, of course. let's take a look. >> newt gingrich, should big bird be killed or not? >> that's total baloney. big bird makes millions and millions of dollars annually. >> save big bird! >> it's a commercially profitable show. >> save big bird! >> you would save big bird? >> i would save big bird by liberating big bird from the bureaucracy. >> jennifer granholm looks like she's still at the convention in charlotte. of course, he's a big bird fan. may look like he and granholm are o
how did the former gop candidates feel about the mitt romney pledge to stop funding for pbs if elected president? first, rick santorum last night on cnn. >> would you kill big bird? >> well, as a matter of fact, i voted to kill big bird in the past. it doesn't mean i don't like big bird. you can kill things and still like them. maybe to eat them, i don't know. >> you can kill things but still like them? very interesting. >>> on to newt gingrich who went to one zoo...
216
216
Oct 4, 2012
10/12
by
CURRENT
tv
eye 216
favorite 0
quote 0
one spending reduction he did offer is cutting funding to pbs. but that's only $450 million a year which pales in comparison to other government spending. more bill press is coming up after the break. stay with us. you're about to watch an ad message created by a current tv viewer for capella university. matter. >> i work with adults with developmental disabilities. growing up i had a single mother of four and people in the community were so helpful when they didn't even have much themselves. seeing people and their hardships made me want to make a difference in people's lives to give them hope. receiving a masters degree would open the doors for me to get into a management position where i would be able to do more for people. >> bill: karl rowe accuses john bryson of drunk driving then has to apologize a couple of hours later when it is learned that secretary bryson suffered a seizure before having that accident out in southern california. karl rove steps in it again. can't believe a word he says. we've been telling you that for a long time. goo
one spending reduction he did offer is cutting funding to pbs. but that's only $450 million a year which pales in comparison to other government spending. more bill press is coming up after the break. stay with us. you're about to watch an ad message created by a current tv viewer for capella university. matter. >> i work with adults with developmental disabilities. growing up i had a single mother of four and people in the community were so helpful when they didn't even have much...
161
161
Oct 4, 2012
10/12
by
CSPAN2
tv
eye 161
favorite 0
quote 0
i like pbs. i love big bird. i actually like u2, but i'm not going to spend money and things of our money from china to pay for. that's number one. number two, will take programs that are currently good programs will be run more efficiently at the state level and send them to stay. number three, i will make agencies and departments. the cutbacks will be done through attrition, by the way. this is the approach we have to take to get america to a balanced budget. the president said he would cut the deficit in half. unfortunately, he doubled that. trillion dollar deficits for the last four years. the president has put it in place as much public debt, almost as much debt held by the public as all prior presidents combined. >> moderator: mr. president, two minutes. obama: when i walked in and oval office at more than a $3 trillion deficit greeting me. we know where it came from, to worst paid for in a credit card, to tax cuts that were not paid for and a whole bunch of programs that were not paid for and then a massiv
i like pbs. i love big bird. i actually like u2, but i'm not going to spend money and things of our money from china to pay for. that's number one. number two, will take programs that are currently good programs will be run more efficiently at the state level and send them to stay. number three, i will make agencies and departments. the cutbacks will be done through attrition, by the way. this is the approach we have to take to get america to a balanced budget. the president said he would cut...
403
403
Oct 3, 2012
10/12
by
WMPT
tv
eye 403
favorite 0
quote 0
and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: in just a few hours, president barack obama and former massachusetts governor mitt romney will take the stage at the university of denver's magness arena for the first of three election debates. tonight's encounter, moderated by the "newshour's" own jim lehrer, is to focus on domestic policy. the first half of the 90-minute face-off will be spent on the number one issue for most voters this year: the economy. joining us for the debate, and here with us now to preview what to expect tonight are two familiar faces syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks. gentlemen, welcome. the night is finally here. mark, no pressure, just 60 million people will be watching. what are you looking for from tonighta encounter? >> what i'm looking for, judy, is that the-- the candidate who understands of the two that the most important thing is not making a mistake but really making a point as to what his presidency would be about. i think both
and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: in just a few hours, president barack obama and former massachusetts governor mitt romney will take the stage at the university of denver's magness arena for the first of three election debates. tonight's encounter, moderated by the "newshour's" own jim lehrer, is to focus on domestic policy. the first half of the 90-minute face-off will be spent on the number one issue for most voters this...